College from the other side.

Since reading K. Moore's post entitled: Open Letter To the Four Year Private College Students who owe more than $40,000 in loans, I have been thinking a lot about the implications behind my experience as a four year private college student.  As a psychology major, and a generally curious person, I like to illuminate the reasoning behind one's path and decisions in life, and I realized I hadn't thought very much about mine.  So, one of the first things I did was check out this list about the pros and cons of community colleges.  My determination?  After reading this, I can't help but wonder about what I would have done differently with my college career.

I must say that I wasn't ready for college by the time I graduated high school.  However, being seventeen at the time I had very little say in my future.  I had excelled in high school and my family had pressured me high expectations for me to go right away to a college where I could get a Bachelor's Degree.  I just let myself be pushed because I did want an education and because I listened when people said that I wouldn't go back if I took a gap year (many of you are proof, however, that that is a myth!). 

Because I was pushed I ended up having a much longer, and more difficult college career.  Although I did have academic scholarships, more money was wasted on classes I withdrew from or failed to attend, because I was unprepared to be a college student.  Ideally, I would have taken a year off to discover myself and recoup from a traumatic senior year.  Then, I would have taken my time to determine the right college for me.  It is obvious that non- traditional and returning students are always the most motivated.  I have grown to love Saint Rose, but in all likelihood I would have attended a SUNY school, because K. Moore is right, the extreme cost is hardly justifiable.  I also would have been able to graduate with less debt hanging over my head.

Still, my college experience has had its benefits, many of which come from being a resident student.  Firstly, the ability to live away from home, surrounded by other college students, helped foster independence from my overbearing extremely loving parents.  Secondly, the dormitory experience does lend itself to the development of the community.  I know many wonderful commuter students at Saint Rose, but the students who are most immersed in student activities are the residents; reading this blog has only reinforced that idea for me.  From the blog, I can only get a taste of the hard work that K. Moore does to increase student involvement, and I doubt I would have been as involved on campus had I not lived there. I am excited to see that SCCC is creating a dorm because I think that the students who get to live there will be greatly enriched by student activities. 

At this point, I will just have to say that it is less about the particular educational path that's better and more about finding the right one for your circumstances.  So if you are a non-traditional student, or fresh out of high school, the key is to choose carefully so that you can make the most out of your education, while minimizing the pain!

Dana